Operant AI

Operant AI

Subscription-based runtime protection for cloud-native apps

About Operant AI

Simplify's Rating
Why Operant AI is rated
B-
Rated B on Competitive Edge
Rated B on Growth Potential
Rated C on Differentiation

Industries

Data & Analytics

Enterprise Software

Cybersecurity

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$13M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2020

Overview

Operant.ai provides runtime application protection for cloud-native environments, focusing on Kubernetes-based deployments. It protects APIs and microservices by enforcing security policies at runtime across every interaction and cloud, using a subscription-based platform (PaaS) that continuously updates in real time. The system works by monitoring application behavior and applying fine-grained security controls to prevent threats, with analytics and controls delivered through an online service. The company differentiates itself by offering adaptive, real-time enforcement that covers the entire app graph (APIs, microservices, and interactions) rather than relying on static or per-layer defenses. Its goal is to help organizations securely run cloud-native applications with continuous protection and rapid security updates.

Significant Headcount Growth
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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Gartner predicts 40% of enterprise apps integrate AI agents by end-2026, boosting demand.
  • Agent Protector, Endpoint Protector, and ScopeGuard launches target exploding shadow AI threats.
  • Indian market entry taps Asia's rapid AI and cloud adoption with local team expansion.

What critics are saying

  • Wiz's $1B funding outpaces Operant's $13.5M, capturing market share in 12 months.
  • Palo Alto's Prisma Cloud bundles eclipse Operant's niche tools within 6 months.
  • Rapid product launches expose bugs, eroding trust and causing churn in 3 months.

What makes Operant AI unique

  • Operant AI delivers runtime protection shielding APIs, AI agents, and cloud layers in real-time.
  • Agent Protector blocks rogue AI agents via inline detection and zero-trust enforcement across ecosystems.
  • Featured in six Gartner AI security reports including AI TRiSM and MCP Gateways.

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Funding

Total Funding

$13M

Below

Industry Average

Funded Over

2 Rounds

Series A funding typically happens when a startup has a product and some customers, and now needs funding to scale. This money is usually used to grow the team, expand marketing, and improve the product. Venture capital firms are frequently the main investors here.
Series A Funding Comparison
Below Average

Industry standards

$15M
$8.2M
Discord
$10M
Operant AI
$15M
Canva
$30M
Kalshi

Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Paid Holidays

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Stock Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

2%

1 year growth

10%

2 year growth

5%
Yahoo Finance
Mar 23rd, 2026
Operant AI launches Agent ScopeGuard to stop rogue AI agents before they cause real-world damage

Operant AI has launched Agent ScopeGuard, a new capability that detects and blocks AI agents from operating outside their intended scope in real-time. The tool is part of Operant's Agent Protector platform and addresses security risks posed by autonomous AI agents in enterprise environments. The San Francisco-based company, recognised by Gartner as a leader in AI security, developed ScopeGuard to prevent agents from accessing unauthorised data, systems or workflows through compromise, drift or autonomous expansion. The technology enforces operational boundaries at GPU-accelerated speed before damage occurs. Agent ScopeGuard targets growing compliance and security risks in regulated industries deploying agentic AI with reduced human oversight. Co-founder Priyanka Tembey emphasised that whilst certainty cannot be engineered into probabilistic AI agents, operational boundaries can contain consequences when agents exceed their intended scope.

SiliconANGLE Media
Feb 5th, 2026
Operant AI debuts Agent Protector to secure autonomous AI agents at scale

Operant AI debuts Agent Protector to secure autonomous AI agents at scale. Runtime application protection platform company Operant AI Inc. today announced the launch of Agent Protector, a real-time agentic security solution that allows for the safe deployment of artificial intelligence agents at scale. The new solution has been designed to address the issue whereby, as organizations rapidly adopt AI agents across cloud platforms, development environments and enterprise workflows, critical security gaps can and do appear. Agent Protector addresses security issues by providing comprehensive visibility, real-time protection and governance for both managed and unmanaged agents. Under the hood, Agent Protector combines shadow agent discovery, secure development enclaves, cloud-native observability, inline behavioral threat detection and zero-trust enforcement in a unified solution designed specifically for agentic security. "AI agents are proliferating across enterprises faster than security teams can track them," said co-founder and Chief Executive Vrajesh Bhavsar. "From cloud-based agents to software-as-a-solution environments and custom implementations, organizations are facing an explosion of autonomous systems with access to sensitive data and critical tools. Agent Protector gives security teams real-time visibility and inline control they need to safely enable AI innovation." Core capabilities of Agent Protector include real-time rogue agent intent detection with inline protection that identifies and blocks sophisticated threat patterns in real-time through agent supply chain risk analysis, trust scoring, and reputation assessment. The product detects and prevents anomalous behavior with tool sequence tracking, identifies and blocks inline privilege escalation attempts and recognizes persistence and data exfiltration signals before they execute. Support for discovery of shadow agents and identities sees Agent Protector discover the complete agentic landscape across an organization, including unmanaged agents running in cloud and SaaS environments, development tools and previously invisible Model Context Protocol servers, tools and dependencies. The offering also includes support for secure enclaves for private in-house agents, with organizations that build custom agents able to leverage Agent Protector's low-code security framework, which integrates with leading agent platforms including LangGraph, CrewAI, n8n and ChatGPT Agents SDK. Other features include cloud-native agent observability and monitoring. Agent Protector delivers real-time visibility into agent operations across cloud and hybrid environments, complete tracing from prompts, tools, memory stores and zero-trust enforcement that includes real-time least-permissioned access controls tailored to each agent and identity. "Agentic AI is forcing financial services to redraw trust boundaries - perimeter-first security breaks down when autonomous agents can traverse apps, APIs and data stores without a human in the loop," said Suhel Khan, industry veteran and head of cybersecurity at Chargebee Inc... "Operant's real-time protection across the full agent toolchain - from MCP clients and endpoints to live, interactive agentic applications - lets technology leaders move fast without compromising customer privacy, making it a foundational control rather than an afterthought." Operant AI is a venture capital-backed startup that has raised $13.5 million over two rounds, including a round of $10 million in September 2024. Investors in the company include SineWave Ventures, Felicis Ventures Management Co., Alumni Ventures Group, Calm Ventures, Gaingels and Massive Inc. Image: Operant AI. A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE: Support its mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE's Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities. * 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more * 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni - Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network. SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios - with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange - SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI. Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Its new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.

GlobeNewswire
Feb 5th, 2026
Operant AI Launches Agent Protector: The First Real-Time Agentic Security Solution Enabling Safe AI Agent Innovation at Scale

Operant AI launches Agent Protector: the first real-time Agentic Security solution enabling safe AI agent innovation at scale. Revolutionary AI security solution delivers continuous discovery, Inline Protection, and zero Trust Enforcement for AI Agents. February 05, 2026 09:00 ET | Source: Operant AI SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Operant AI today announced the launch of Agent Protector, a groundbreaking security solution purpose-built for the agentic AI era. As organizations rapidly adopt AI agents across cloud platforms, development environments, and enterprise workflows, Agent Protector addresses the critical security gap by providing comprehensive visibility, real-time protection, and governance for both managed and unmanaged agents. Agent Protector is the first solution to combine shadow agent discovery, secure development enclaves, cloud-native observability, inline behavioral threat detection, and zero trust enforcement in a unified solution designed specifically for agentic security. "Agentic AI is forcing financial services to redraw trust boundaries - perimeter-first security breaks down when autonomous agents can traverse apps, APIs, and data stores without a human in the loop. Operant's real-time protection across the full agent toolchain - from MCP clients and endpoints to live, interactive agentic applications - lets technology leaders move fast without compromising customer privacy, making it a foundational control, rather than an afterthought," said Suhel Khan, industry veteran Head of Cybersecurity at Chargebee. Addressing the Agentic Security Challenge According to Gartner by the end of 2026, an estimated 40% of enterprise applications will integrate task-specific AI agents, up from less than 5% today. As these deployments scale, organizations need better security tools to maintain visibility and control over autonomous systems operating across their infrastructure. The challenge for enterprises is to establish governance that reduces risk without limiting the productivity and transformation that AI enables, especially in regulated industries such as Fintech and Healthcare. "AI agents are proliferating across enterprises faster than security teams can track them," said Vrajesh Bhavsar, co-founder and CEO of Operant AI. "From cloud-based agents to SaaS environments and custom implementations, organizations are facing an explosion of autonomous systems with access to sensitive data and critical tools. Agent Protector gives security teams real-time visibility and inline control they need to safely enable AI innovation." Real-Time Rogue Agent Intent Detection with Inline Protection Moving beyond simple tool call monitoring, Agent Protector identifies and blocks sophisticated threat patterns in real-time through agent supply chain risk analysis, trust scoring, and reputation assessment. The product detects and prevents anomalous behavior with tool sequence tracking, identifies and blocks inline privilege escalation attempts, and recognizes persistence and data exfiltration signals before they execute. Advanced inline detection capabilities flag and prevent over-permissioned and over-scoped agent activities that could enable lateral movement. Agent Protector also blocks zero-click attacks including shadow escape attempts, where agents attempt to break out of their designated security boundaries without user interaction. Agent Protector discovers the complete agentic landscape across an organization, including unmanaged agents running in cloud and SaaS environments, development tools, and previously invisible MCP servers, tools, and dependencies. The product creates comprehensive catalogs of user and service account agentic identities, providing security teams with complete visibility into their agent ecosystem across the entire cloud infrastructure. Organizations building custom agents can leverage Agent Protector's low-code security framework, which integrates seamlessly with leading agent platforms including LangGraph, CrewAI, n8n, and ChatGPT Agents SDK. The product automatically discovers agents, tools, models, context usage, and memory patterns while providing runtime security scanning and embeddable security primitives that make agents secure by design. Cloud-Native Agent Observability & Monitoring Agent Protector delivers unprecedented real-time visibility into agent operations across cloud and hybrid environments through complete tracing from prompts to tools to memory stores. The product continuously analyzes agent intent and behavior, provides execution telemetry with detailed activity timelines, and generates tool activity graphs showing correlations and dependencies across the entire agent ecosystem. All observability data is captured and analyzed in real-time, enabling immediate threat detection and response. Zero Trust Enforcement for Agents and Agentic Identities Agent Protector implements real-time least-permissioned access controls tailored to each agent and identity, with continuous runtime re-authorization that captures the intent, behavior, and context of tool calls beyond static allow/deny policies. The product includes inline prompt security guardrails, real-time data loss prevention, and agent memory and context poisoning protection through sandboxing with immediate blocking capabilities. Intelligent rate-limiting stops rogue agents in their tracks, while inline enforcement prevents malicious actions before they impact the environment. Agent Protector is available now. Organizations interested in securing their agentic AI infrastructure can request a demo at https://www.operant.ai/platform/agent-protector About Operant AI Operant AI is an emerging leader that delivers comprehensive, real-time protection for Agentic AI from agents to AI applications to MCP. Operant's AI Gatekeeper and MCP Gateway solutions provide real-time discovery, detection, and defense capabilities with in-line auto-redaction of sensitive data and private mode operation, ensuring data privacy standards do not stand in the way of AI innovation, while actively protecting against the most critical AI attacks including prompt injection, data exfiltration, tool poisoning, rogue agents, 0-click attacks, and zero-day vulnerabilities. Operant's new Agent Protector revolutionizes real-time security for AI Agents across the entire Agentic Ecosystem. Operant AI is the only vendor featured across six of Gartner's critical AI security reports in the last year: AI TRiSM Market Guide (Trust, Risk, and Security Management), API Protection Market Guide, MCP Gateways Innovation Insight, Securing the Risks of MCP, How to Secure Custom-Built AI Agents, and LLM Supply Chain Security. Based in San Francisco, California, and founded by a team from Apple, VMware, and Google, Operant AI is backed by Felicis and SineWave Ventures.

Geekflare
May 22nd, 2025
This Free Tool Spots Hidden Risks in AI and APIs

Operant AI has expanded its portfolio with the launch of Woodpoacker, an open-source engine that automates "red teaming" across AI models, Kubernetes clusters, and APIs.

Analytics India Magazine
Apr 17th, 2025
Operant AI Unveils AI Gatekeeper for Enhanced Security in AI Applications

Operant AI, a Silicon Valley-based deep-tech cybersecurity startup, has introduced AI Gatekeeper, a real-time security platform.

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